Extended Hours

Remember that we are now open until 7 PM on the third Monday of each month for your convenience. Many folks who donate or who need our services cannot get there by 3:30 so we added additional volunteers to provide one day a month when we can help clients later in the day.

These are the dates we can serve you until seven for the remainder of 2008:

Monday, September 15

Monday, October 20

Monday, November 17

Monday, December 15

Garden Produce

The food shelf was thrilled with the results of our campaign for extra garden produce last year so we are reminding you that you can really make a difference when bring in extra vegetables for your neighbors who are experiencing difficulties feeding their families good, nutritious food. With rising gas prices, fuel bills and medical emergencies the paychecks just aren’t stretching far enough for some of our families. We are seeing increasing numbers of new families asking for a little help. If you love to garden here is your chance to make it count! Keep your garden producing as long as you can and bring in the extra bounty so we can pass it out. Together we can help those in need.

Thanks for Fair Donations

It was great to have many of you stop by our spot at the Beltrami County Fair this year. We were located in the Sunnyside School and had some good volunteers passing out our newsletter to visitors. Many out of town folks mentioned that we seem to have a well run organization and took back our brochure to their hometown. We received some nice donations and gave out two door prizes! If you missed us this year be sure to stop by in ’09.

Upcoming Events

We are already planning for our big food drive in the fall. Planning meetings are set for our annual Stuff-a-Truck event. We cooperate with the Bemidji Pioneer, Paul Bunyan Broadcasting and Marketplace Foods to collect food to supply us through the holidays. It is a very important food drive and we appreciate the community’s help at a difficult time of the year for our clients.

As you know, we had a major set back in our venison program last year. However, we have been in communication with the Department of Health and are making all of the necessary changes to the program. I have full confidence that the Bemidji Locker Plant will be following all of the new guidelines put forth as they have always done in the past. Please plan on donating a deer this year because our clients really appreciate having meat for their families. Our area produced more vension last year for the needy than any other county in the state. We really count on that meat to get us through the fall and early spring so add those extra licenses and have a great hunting season!

What More Can You Do?

There are several items that we can not always get at the North Country Food Bank and need to purchase from another source. This of course, is much more expensive and depletes our budget quickly. Cash donations are always appreciated, but we do encourage you to drop off food items also. Here are some of the items we can always use if you find them on sale:

Canned fruit Tuna Peanut Butter Canned Beans (kidney, baked)

Cold Cereal Crackers Pancake Mix Potatoes (fresh or boxed)

Mac and Cheese Soup Tomato Products Boxed meals (Hamburger Helper etc)

Hot Cereal Soap Shampoo Rice (white, brown, blends)

Just stop by the food shelf any time between 10 and 3:30 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Walk to the back of the waiting room and there is a door to your right where the volunteers are working. They will take your donation and credit it to you or to your church. It’s as simple as that. We can even offer you some conversation and a cup of coffee if you’d like!

Beltrami County is a great place to live and work. We are fortunate to have beautiful scenery, good neighbors and a community that cares. Thank you all for being part of that. Just the fact that you have checked out this website shows that you are interested in helping others.